The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor housing plan hit with EPA issue
Developers of a former Mentor golf course have hit a rough patch.
The three-phase, 119-lot Ridgewood Greens housing subdivision at 7134 Mentor Ave. received final subdivision plat approval of the first two phases from Mentor City Council in March 2019, and Phase 1 is well underway.
However, developer Bedaos LLC now needs an amendment to the development plan for Phase 2 stormwater management improvements.
The original plan included using existing golf course ponds as part of the overall stormwater management system, and Bedaos received approval for Phase 1 from the city, the Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.
The EPA has since changed its tune toward Phase 2. The agency determined that the ponds are its jurisdiction, not the Army Corps’, and issued a violation notice to the developer over using them in future stormwater management.
The developer proposes building another detention basin, which will require the relocation of several easements and recreational amenities.
Bedaos submitted this update for Phase 2 to the EPA and has received a permit to install, with conditions.
The new basin will eat up about one-third of an acre of grass and will require that a section of a proposed walking path be shifted. The revised plan includes two benches along the walkway and picnic tables relocated to three different locations.
“Other than the relocation of the easements and recreational amenities, the addition of the proposed pond/basin for stormwater management will not have any impact on the overall open space dedicated within the development, the roadway layout or the total number of sublots,” said a city staff report to the city Planning Commission.
On Jan. 21, the amendment was reviewed by the commission, which will make a recommendation
to City Council whether it is deemed a substantial departure from the initial plan.
The request was tabled by the commission because of concerns about loss of greenspace.
“There’s a requirement for a certain amount of open space — usable recreational space,” commission member Geoffrey Varga said. “We argued about every little bench and table, and now those are going to be significantly minimized so, though it may not
seem from one perspective a very important issue, it is germane to the zoning approval of this entire project that these areas be recreationally and common to the full development.”
He called for eliminating two home sublots to replace the property that will be lost to the new detention basin.
Commission Vice Chairman Brian Cook noted that people who have already purchased homes in Phase 1 are expecting the amenities as initially approved.
“You’ve got to (bring) more to the table than just relocating the walking trail and just moving the benches into a tighter area,” he said.
Dustin Keeney of Polaris Engineering said the project still would be well above the RVG requirement for 15 percent open space.
“We’re at like almost 46 percent of total open space,” he said.
Varga said drainage ways don’t count as usable open space.
Timothy Posar, representing
Bedaos, said the developer is willing to work with the city on adding amenities, but that the budget won’t allow a reduction in homes.
“Believe me, we don’t want to put this in,” he said. “This is an extra cost for us to put this extra basin in and redo this ... but it’s the Ohio EPA that has kind of forced our hand.”
As the Phase 2 applications were evaluated by the EPA, it was discovered that some sections of the Phase 1 stormwater system were not in compliance with the permit, said Anthony Chenault, an Ohio EPA spokesman.
“Ohio EPA is working with the applicant to ensure Phase 1 and 2 infrastructure and operations will meet requirements as required by the permit(s),” he said.
Posar agreed to meet with the administration on finding an acceptable alternative.
Phases 1 and 2 comprise
87 homes and Phase 3 calls for 32.
In February 2019, the commission voted 6-1 in favor of the final site plan for the first two phases after the developer agreed to, among other conditions, guarantee funding for the completion of a permanent second access to the development, from Route 84.
The city requested a surety bond equal to the cost of the road improvements in Phase 2 making that connection, which must be completed within one year of the building permit issue on the 30th home, weather-permitting.
Mentor planners approved rezoning the former Johnnycake Ridge Golf Course from R-2 Single Family Residential to RVG Village Green in 2016. At the time, the project was proposed by Ryan Homes and property owner Frank DeMilta.
The sale of the property didn’t go through.